Variability and character association in anthurium under island ecosystem

A study was conducted to estimate genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance of 15 quantitative characters in 14 anthurium cultivars. Significant differences were observed for all the characters under study. Estimates of phenotypic and genotypic coefficients of variations were found to be high for number of suckers per plant, number of leaves per plant and number of flowers per plant. The characters, number of flowers per plant, time taken for flowering, peduncle length, leaf area, plant spread, shelf-life of flower on plant, and plant height exhibited high heritability along with high genetic advance which indicated that there was additive gene action in expression of these traits and thereby further improvement could be brought by selection. The number of suckers per plant was positively and significantly correlated with plant height, plant spread, leaf fresh weight, number of leaves per plant, leaf area and leaf dry weight. A significant and positive association of flowers per plant was obtained with spathe size, peduncle length and shelf-life of flower indicating that with the increase in these associated characters, the sucker and flower production could be improved. In general, both the sucker production and flower production are negatively correlated with each other.